


No Heroes

by owlettica



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Angst, Drinking, Gen, Goodbyes, Language, Memories, Regret
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-15
Updated: 2017-12-15
Packaged: 2019-02-15 00:11:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13019163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/owlettica/pseuds/owlettica
Summary: Bullock says his goodbyes.This story takes place during Gotham ep 4x11, “Queen Takes Knight”.You know the drill: I’ve no Gotham or FOX association. Please don’t sue me. I have no money.





	No Heroes

Harvey slowly rouses to the obnoxious beep of his alarm clock. Thanks to his administrative leave, it’s been awhile since he’s had to set it, but today he has to get up.

He wakes with a raging headache. He winces and rubs his temples. His mouth feels like cotton and his breath smells like a dumpster. He slams the alarm off.  
  
Don Carmine Falcone will be laid to rest today. There is no way he can miss the funeral of Gotham’s legendary crime boss.  
  
_“Shit.”_  
  
It isn’t until he sits up that he realizes he’s still a little buzzed. He runs his fingers through his hair and finds it oilier than usual. He smells of sebum and sour sweat from the booze.  
  
When his feet hit the floor, he kicks over the bottle of Jack beside his bed. It clatters against his nightstand. He sighs with relief when he confirms the bottle is (thankfully) empty and finds no spilt whiskey.

He checks the beer bottles on his nightstand straight away. He shakes them to determine if they have anything left. They’re all empty.  
  
_Wait. There’s a little in this one._  
  
He lifts it to his mouth, swallows the dregs and mindlessly places it back down on the nightstand with a bang. The sound surprises him a little.  
  
He hoists himself up. His lower back twinges as he rises. He groans and reaches for it.  
  
Harvey shuffles to the bathroom for a piss and takes a look in the mirror. He’s definitely looked better. He runs his hand down his face and mentally plans how he’ll tackle his beard once he’s out of the shower.  
  
He studies the mark that Pyg left on his neck. He thought he was a fucking goner. If it hadn’t been for Jim…  
  
_Jim._  
  
_“So pay it back now… Tell me the truth. How long have you been taking money from Penguin? …I don’t know why I didn’t see it before, maybe I didn’t want to. I just need to know how long. We talkin’ years?”_  
  
_“No, just since this license crap started. The commissioner ordered us to comply, then Metzger started showing up with these envelopes full of cash. I didn’t do nothin’ I wouldn’t have done anyway. You gotta understand Jim, the bills I got. The debts I got.”_  
  
_“It stops. It stops now.”_  
  
_Maybe fucking Pyg should have finished the job._  
  
Thankfully, the shower helps. It clears his mind and helps prepare him for what he has to do and who he’s going to see. He brushes his teeth, combs his hair and cleans up his beard. As he slaps on his aftershave, he gives himself a pep talk.  
  
“You got this Bullock.”  
  
He dresses, grabs his wallet and keys.

\---

He’s not in a hurry to get to St. Anthony’s. He heads to a diner for a bite and some coffee. He loves places like these. No one here treats him any differently. There are no awkward silences or discomfort. People don’t avoid eye contact or make hamfisted attempts at conversation. They ask him how he’s doing because they give a shit —not because they’re fishing or want something.  
  
He doesn’t have to order. The moment the cook hears the bell on the door and sees Bullock walk in, he hollers.  
  
“Morning, Harvey! The usual?”  
  
“Yeah, Joe. Thanks, man. Hey, how’s Myrtle?”  
  
“Aww man, you know! She’s running my ass ragged.”  
  
”Hey, she needs to! You lazy old dog!”  
  
Laughs.  
  
After the laughter dies down and Harvey takes a seat at the counter, Joe takes a more serious tone.

“Naw, Harv. She’s getting around a lot better since her surgery. Thanks for visiting her in the hospital. It really meant a lot to her.”

Harvey waves him off.  
  
“Glad to hear it, man. Hey. Give her my love, okay?”  
  
He talks to the regulars and old timers. In between chatting them up, the waitresses take turns giving him side hugs, kisses or both as they serve meals and pour coffee. One even picks up his napkin to clean some yoke from the side of his mouth and straightens his tie before he leaves.  
  
He lays down his money despite protests and heads for the door. A tall, short-haired and brown-eyed waitress runs to catch him on his way out. She hands him a small box. It’s warm.

He peeks inside to find a generous slice of freshly-baked apple pie and a plastic fork. It’s his favorite —the one with the brown sugar topping. His face splits into a wide smile.

He pecks her on the cheek and jiggles the box at her as he walks out the door.  
  
“You’re the greatest, Linda. If you ever get tired of the old ball and chain…”

\---

Harvey arrives at St. Anthony's. He takes a swig from his flask before he gets out of his car. When he enters the vestibule, he watches Penguin clock Sofia Falcone as she’s being wheeled into the sanctuary.

He recalls the days when Cobblepot was Fish’s umbrella boy and Fish worked for Falcone. Now, Falcone lie in a box. _Hell, Fish and Falcone_ both _did for that matter._

As he walks into the church, he watches Zsasz pay his respects. The assassin pulls his piece and ejects an unfired round for the Don. Bullock watches Victor immediately stride out as he makes his way to the pew behind Gordon (who sits alone).

Harvey notices Penguin looks worried. He even gets up to call after his lieutenant (who either doesn't hear or ignores him). It's no secret Zsasz was fiercely loyal to Falcone.

_With any luck, the weasel won’t live to see an arrest._

He takes a seat behind Gordon.

“Harvey.”

“Jim.”

“Your leave’s almost up. It’d be good to have you back.”

“We’ll see. So why haven’t you arrested the little weasel?”

“Penguin still owns the judges. If I arrest him and it’s not rock solid, he’ll walk.”

“So him whackin’ Falcone and you sittin’ on your hands, what good does that do?”

“It was Sofia who paid off the mayor to make me captain. I didn’t ask her to.”

“Well, well.”

“She’s been pressing me to move on Penguin even before this.”

_He fucking knew it! He even told Gordon as much. He was gonna owe one helluva debt for that little favor. Nothing in Gotham is free._

“I told you, didn’t I, that bill would come due?”

“I can’t allow her to turn the GCPD into her own private army. We’ve come too far. This has to be by the book.”

Harvey’s heard enough.

“Then forget Falcone. Penguin’s too smart to get nailed for that anyway.”

What do you mean?

“Get him to do something you can really bust him for, and then yank his ass off the street once and for all.

“You’re saying start a war?”

“I’m saying get _him_ to start one. You know he’s gonna come for her. I don’t give a tinker’s damn about Sofia. The way I see it, everything that’s happened, down to Don Falcone lying in that box, comes from _you_ deciding months ago to go after Penguin. This is all on you, so finish what you started“.

-

After Harvey pays his respects to the Don, he leaves the church. When he sees the unies outside, it’s bittersweet. For the first time in the longest, they look unified and confident, not beleaguered or frustrated.  
  
They sure as hell don’t look the way they did after his debacle with Pyg and Patel.  
  
The realization he’s no longer one of them hits hard.

He’s a cop who shoots cops.

Jim’s _the hero._  
  
He can practically hear Dix’s voice.  
  
_“Gotham’s golden rule: no heroes, Bullock.”_  
  
Harvey absently whispers to himself.  
  
“No heroes.”

\---

  
Harvey drives all over Gotham. He cruises his old beats. A few of the shopkeepers and older neighborhood residents wave at him as he drives past in his sedan. He recalls some of his stakeouts, the long nights and his fallen comrades. Eventually, he finds himself at the pier where Jim was supposed to do Penguin.  
  
_“This is the fool that snitched to Montoya and Allen. Falcone wants you to walk him to the end of the pier and put a bullet in his head. Then everybody knows you’re with the program.”_  
  
_“And if I don’t do it?”_  
  
_“Then I’m supposed to take you out —and him, too. And here’s the deal, Jim. I like you. I may not have the stomach to do it, but I’ll try. ‘Cause if I don’t, someone will get to you quick enough. Then they’re gonna get to me and Barbara as well. Who knows what you told her.”_  
  
_“I told her nothing.”_  
  
_“You think Falcone cares?”_  
  
_“C’mon. You’ve killed people before.”_  
  
_“That was war!”_  
  
_“This_ is _war! We’re at war with scumbags like him! Sometimes in war, we have to do bad things to do good, right? So do you do this bad thing, or die? Or maybe your girl dies? I might be lackadaisical, but that’s not a tough call.”_  
  
He still remembers the weight of the gun he handed Jim. He recalls Penguin’s bargaining after Gordon pulled him out of the trunk.  
  
_“That a boy.”_  
  
Thing is, Jim didn’t do Cobblepot.

 _Jesus! Falcone, Maroni, Fish, Galavan, Tetch, the virus, Strange, Penguin, Joker, Riddler_ (fucking Nygma!) _—now Pyg? When would it ever end? At least with Falcone there was order —even honor._  
  
Those days were over. Falcone was probably in the ground by now. Who knew what fresh hell the rivalry between Sofia Falcone and Penguin would bring to the city.

Harvey knows what he has to do.

  
\---

Walking into the precinct’s hard. Walking past the bullpen to Gordon’s office is harder. He tries to appear casual and tamps down the rising dread before it reaches his face.  
  
_“I’ll be out of your way in just a second, Captain.”_  
  
_“Harvey, this isn’t how I wanted things to go down.”_  
  
_“And yet, here we are. Know what I was thinking about today? Our first case when I told you to walk Penguin to the end of the pier, put a bullet in his head and dump him in the water, but you wouldn’t. You thought it was wrong.”_  
  
_“It was.”_  
  
_“Maybe if you would have done it, Falcone would still be running things and a lot of people who are dead would be alive today.”_  
  
_“If I could go back, I’d still do the same thing.”_  
  
_“‘Cause you still don’t know how this city works, Jim. You wanna be a hero and Gotham doesn’t need heroes. It needs people who will do what is necessary.”_  
  
_“You’re wrong. You show them the way, the people will follow.”_  
  
_“Guess we’ll just have to wait and see, huh?”_  
  
_“When your leave is up, there’ll be a desk here waitin’ for you.”_  
  
_“Sit around and watch you all day? No thanks.”_  
  
He’s relieved to discover Jim’s not in his office. Bullock almost makes it out of there unseen, but a familiar voice stops him.  
  
“Harvey.”

His stomach falls. He forces himself to turn around and face his old partner.

“I was just uhh…dropping something off. Oh. I uhh…heard you got the Pyg —and Penguin.”  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
“So everything turned out well. You didn’t even need me.”  
  
“You got a second? Could we, uhh…?”  
  
His next words are the hardest.

“They uhh…they believe in you. Don’t let ‘em down.”

\---

Harvey returns home. He tosses his keys on the counter and loosens his tie. He absently reaches to remove his badge and his service piece before he remembers they’re gone.  
  
He finishes the rest of Linda’s pie and opens the fifth he picked up on the way home. He pours himself a tall one.

Bullock briefly lifts his tumbler in honor of the fallen mob boss before placing it to his lips.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to the lovely and talented linearoundyourthoughts (who offered her beta reading prowess). You are the greatest. Maybe someday I’ll grow up to be as awesome as you!
> 
> I wrote this story based on a prompt to write about a character I’d never written before.
> 
> The apple pie with brown sugar topping is a nod to my wifey, Linda, and her amazing pie. (Baby, I know you’ll never read this, but I love you. You’re the National City to my Gotham and the Ravenclaw to my Slytherin. I hope you never tire of your ball and chain.)
> 
> I enjoying pairing songs with fics. I think [Alice In Chains’ “Nutshell”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EKi2E9dVY8%20rel=) is the perfect soundtrack for Harvey’s story:
> 
> “We chase misprinted lies  
> We face the path of time  
> And yet I fight  
> And yet I fight  
> This battle all alone  
> No one to cry to  
> No place to call home....”


End file.
